Art principles in literatureDonnelly, Francis P. (Francis Patrick)
Philosophy
Art principles in literature
Donnelly, Francis P. (Francis Patrick)
Aesthetics; Literature
The ecclesiastical sphere is practically mine. I am the architect
of churches, cathedrals and basilicas, from the asphalt base in the
crypts of the catacomb, up to the apse and the chimes in the dome. I am
architect of monasteries for monks and anchorites, and of asylums for
orphans and lepers and maniacs. Mine is the Hierarchy, from the Pope on
his dais with his tiara, to the mitered Bishop in his diocese, and to
the parish priest in his presbytery. Deacons and acolytes, clergy and
laity, Papal encyclicals, diocesan synods, parochial homilies, and all
dogmatic theology, with its mysteries and myriad topics, are mine. The
Bible is mine from Genesis, Exodus, Deuteronomy of the Pentateuch, to
the Paralipomenon and the Psalms, to patriarchs and prophets, to the
Evangelists of Christ, to the Epistles and Apocalypse of His Apostles.
Epiphany, Pentecost, the Parasceve are mine The tunes of the hymns, the
quiring of anthems, the Gregorian tones of the litanies and antiphons are
melodious through me and I composed the canon of liturgy with its symbols.
Go to your home with me. Bushels of anthracite for the chimney, and a
diet of fancied nectar! Chairs and plates and dishes; oysters; butter
and treacle; perch or trout or sardines in olive oil; the aroma of capon
or partridge or pheasant; celery and asparagus and peppers; cherries
and dates and currants, citrons and melons, prunes and quinces and
plums; pumpkins marmalade and pastry; chestnuts and pippins; masses of
purple hyacinths, with lily and crocus, with geraniums and heliotropes,
with narcissus and peony, with asters and orchids and posies of roses.
What zest! Isn’t that a panorama of paradise to tantalize you? Be not
economical or dyspeptic. Masticate beneath your mustache. Let choruses
echo in the parlor with music of organ and guitar, or let there be
anecdotes on the piazza around a bottle of cheering tonic.
I telephone or telegraph for my “auto,” and my machine goes to my
theater or hippodrome. There is on my program the symphony orchestra
with harmonious melodies; or on my program are scenes melancholy with
tragedy, or hilarious with pantomime and melodrama, with comic monolog or
dramatic dialog, with cyclists, gymnasts and acrobats. After the drama or
kinematic photography, with match and lamp you go to attic canopies, and
to the climes of Morpheus. For all these you are to reimburse me with the
treasuries of the purse.
Go with me to the ocean, opposing the stratagems and tactics of barbarous
pirates, to meander by gulf and isthmus and archipelago, nomads through
all climates, charting geography with my nautical atlases, from the
Arctic to the Antarctic through the tropic zone, from Polynesia to its
antipodes. Then for my astronomy! What a panorama through my telescope in
the crystal atmosphere! Above the horizon in the empyrean are my planets
and comets and meteors and galaxies of asteroids.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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